


Love As It Is - Part 3

by Biodiversity (SoraSato)



Series: Overdrive [3]
Category: Is It Love (Visual Novels)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Angst, Emotional Roller Coaster, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Limerence, Multi, Sex, implied sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24559729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoraSato/pseuds/Biodiversity
Summary: The kinky adventures of a talented young archaeology student at the Mystic Spell town full of supernatural creatures. She finds herself entangled in a polyamory with the Bartoly brothers, when the drop-dead gorgeous archaeology professor comes along to complicate things even further...NOTE: The character of professor Sebastian Jones shape-shifts into a jaguar as explained in previous partsBartholys became Bartolis both to reflect the differences between the original story and the fanfic and to enhance an Italian flavor of their family, Viktor becoming Vittore, Nicolae becoming Nicolas, and other minor differences
Relationships: Nicolae Bartholy/Peter Bartholy/Drogo Bartholy/Sebastian Jones/Original Female Character
Series: Overdrive [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774561
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Sarah was contemplating the kissing couple and debating with herself whether it was ethical to make them hiccup, but she finally decided against it, judging that her friend Sienna, although having a bad taste in men, notably in Bartolis, could not be held responsible for her flaw. The nasty Drogo character, in Sarah’s eyes, was much more repulsive than, say, Loan, but for some obscure reason, her friend was smooching with him all the time and all over the campus. Their friendship hit the rocks again, and Sarah felt frustrated to the point of considering the use of magic. Her friend, never very talkative about her intimate life at best times, was now outright elusive.

At last, Drogo went on his way, and Sienna turned to see Sarah. She grinned to her friend as if nothing happened, waved to her other acquaintances passing by, and approached the brooding witch.

“I see you are very enthusiastic this morning,” commented Sarah dryly, after they embraced and headed for the main building.

Sienna shrugged her shoulders and laughed lightly.

“Well, I rather enjoy Drogo’s kissing style. And what about you, my dear? Any persons of interest in your life?”

Sarah rolled her eyes and put on a mysterious air.

“You know, I might have taken an interest in someone… But it’s too soon to tell… He looked at me and smiled. It happened in the cafeteria…”

Sienna’s jaw dropped.

“OMG! A ‘he’ you said?! What’s happened, Sarah dear?! He must be totally gorgeous…”

Sarah nodded.

“He is… well, I cannot hold any secrets from you, sweetie… he’s a teacher…”

Now Sienna looked dumbstruck. She frowned, trying to think quickly.

“Sarah, what are you saying? There is only one hot teacher on campus, and it’s our Dr. Jones…”

Her friend nodded, blushing.

“Well, yes…”

Sienna sighed deeply. She hesitated. Either way, whatever she would say or not say, would look bad.

Sarah saw her friend’s confusion and stirred:

“What’s wrong, sweetie? Do you know something that I don’t?”

Sienna blinked a few times to gather her scattering thoughts and asked:

“I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but are you sure he smiled at you?”

Sarah shrugged her shoulders enthusiastically.

“Of course I am sure. I was alone, so there is no confusion.”

The puzzled expression on Sienna’s face did not fade away.

“All right…” she drawled hesitantly and asked another question, trying to seem unbiased: “But when did you take fancy in him?”

Sarah, enjoying the opportunity to talk about the object of her interest, took on a serious expression, and tried to remember.

“Ah, it was about the same time you invited him to participate in your dance class. He’s been always a hottie, but since then he has been positively radiating sex appeal… I even have been thinking about transferring to your dance class, but unfortunately, my parents prepaid mine until the end of the semester…”

Sienna nodded, trying to maintain a straight face, but made a mental note to clarify this issue.

They entered the lectorium and proceeded to their places.

At the end of the class, Sienna discreetly sent a short message to Dr. Jones.

“ _I have a question. Can I c u?_ ”

She watched Dr. Jones stop gathering his papers from the table and check his phone. He casually typed a text and calmly proceeded to put the documents inside his messenger bag.

Sienna read:

“ _My office in 5 min_.”

But it was only in 10 minutes that Sienna could knock at Dr. Jones’s door because her friend Sarah hadn’t been easy to lose.

“Come in,” she heard his velvety baritone and quickly darted inside, closing the door behind her.

He was standing near his desk, arms folded on the chest, a mixture of curiosity and reservation on his face.

Sienna grinned at him.

“Hi. Sorry for not waiting until the dance class…”

Sebastian smiled at her and unclasped his arms, putting one on his hip and leaning the other on the table.

“I don’t mind. What was the question?”

Sienna had already enough time to figure out how to best approach the situation, so she said confidently:

“I need your advice. You know my friend, Sarah Osborne, right?” The man nodded, waiting for the continuation. “I don’t know what to do. She seems to have developed a… an interest… in… you, after you apparently smiled at her in the cafeteria… I would be a bad friend if I tried to dissuade her, and it seems an equally bad idea to encourage her…”

Sebastian’s expression seemed slightly melancholic when he was listening to the girl.

After she finished, he let out an almost imperceptible sigh and asked in return:

“Are you expecting an immediate answer?”

Sienna looked at him pleadingly.

“I still have two other classes with her today, so, yes, I’d like to have some sort of a guideline…”

Jones lowered his eyes, pensively biting his lip. Then he sighed and asked again:

“Can you do neither? You can help her live through her emotions just by listening to her. No comments needed…” he hesitated and, casting Sienna a gaze that seemed to know her very soul, asked her: “Was this all you wanted to ask me?”

The girl’s stare wandered to the collar of his shirt, buttoned up and wrapped with a tie, making the girl remember this other image, the ‘casual James Bond’ style, and making her want to pull on the tie…

She made an effort to look into his translucent aquamarine eyes and replied, smiling:

“Will you come to the King’s Head tonight?”

Sebastian’s expression enlivened.

“Will there be anything of note?”

Sienna smiled foxily.

“Depending on what you find of note… A new promising band and lots of excited people…”

The man crookedly grinned at her.

“Any excited vampires?”

She laughed and shook her head.

“No. Not if I can help it. So, will you come?”

Sebastian sighed and looked her in the eyes with a mischievous glint hiding in them.

“If this is not a date...”

Six hours later, the King’s Head significantly lifted Sienna’s mood.

Once she saw Sebastian, without his boring tie and dull uniform sweater, she beamed at him. He rose from his seat to greet her and, as the music was very engaging, she smoothly danced across the floor right to him. The man’s breath was momentarily taken away when he caught her and pressed her to his chest.

“You look so beautiful…” he whispered into her ear, delightedly smelling her fragrance.

The music swayed them onto the dance floor in such a fiery manner that people started to form a circle around them, clapping their hands to the rhythm and nodding in approval.

“You didn’t ask me why I smiled to your friend Sarah Osborne…” noted Jones when they returned to their table.

Sienna smiled and looked at him questioningly:

“Do you feel the need to explain yourself?”

He laughed.

“The way you so urgently wanted to see me…”

The girl curved her brow and deviously smiled.

“And you so urgently accepted…”

Sebastian leaned toward her, his mesmerizing eyes gazing into hers, his lips curling:

“I always try to help my students…”

Sienna flashed him a fiery, almost angry glance and exclaimed:

“Then let’s go dance again, I love this song!”

She pulled at his elbow, and he conceded, laughing.

When they returned to their table later, a middle-aged woman approached them and showered them with compliments.

Sebastian offered her a seat, and the next half-hour the three of them spent getting acquainted and chatting.

The woman turned out to be a member of a dance contest jury; she showed them their own performance that she just recorded when they were dancing and kept insisting on them participating in the event. She was so excited that she finally managed to say her goodbyes only after they promised her to think about it.

When she left, Sebastian teasingly pulled at Sienna’s hair and grumbled:

“What did you drag me into?! You and your dances!”

The girl laughed.

“Oh, don’t play the shy one, you saw it yourself, you move like a dancer-born! Admit it, you did it before!”

He shrugged his massive shoulders, grinning.

“I’ve done lots of stupid things in my youth…”

The girl squealed:

“I knew it! The grandpa did it in his youth!”

Sebastian let out a mock growl and made her believe that he was going to pounce on her. The girl giggled and squealed, and tried to hide her head in her arms.

The man grabbed her, grumbling menacingly in her ear, and pretended to chomp on her neck. It was so funny and ticklish that Sienna yelled and jumped from her seat to break his grasp. Then she sat back down, both of them huffing and puffing from the bouts of laughter.

After a pause when they recovered their wind, Sienna asked him:

“While I remember, professor, have you ever heard of the Descendants? Seems it’s a local secret society of sorts…”

Sebastian frowned, gathering his thoughts.

“Eh, probably something very local, I was not born here so I have no idea what that is. Do you have anything else on them? I could try to research them…”

The girl grew pensive.

“I’m not sure. It’s a wild story that a local bully told me; they seem to be some sort of hunters of supernatural creatures… At least that’s what Nicolas told me…”

Jones sighed.

“So why does it interest you? Are you a supernatural creature?”

Sienna cast him a slightly puzzled glance.

“I’m worried for my employers…” she stated as if it was self-evident.

“Oh, right. But you should cease to worry. If this society consists of humans, your employers are totally safe, it would be a minor nuisance for them, nothing more.” He paused, then frowned, as a new thought occurred to him. “But, on the other hand, if all this is true, you are the one in danger, by association…”

The girl shrugged her shoulders.

“Nah, I’m not totally defenseless, you know. Nicolas started giving me self-defense lessons, plus, I’m really good with firearms, so no worries.”

Sebastian laughed as he looked at her in surprise.

“Wow, miss Richards, you are full of hidden talents!”

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“As are you! I was totally speechless at how you organized the works at the dig site! It’s going as smoothly as a yacht on a sunny day, and your enthusiasm is very… engaging…”

Jones’ lips curved into a gently mocking smile.

“Oh, but we are all enthusiasts here, otherwise why would you and more than one hundred other people have chosen this course?”

Sienna giggled.

“I would say that half of those are enthusiasts in a completely different field, professor…! Seriously, how do you manage to handle all the female attention?”

The man laughed, his eyes playful.

“Ah! I just work out a lot, Miss Richards.”

Sienna curved her brow.

“And does it help you?”

Jones frowned mockingly and leaned toward the girl:

“What’s this about, Sienna? Why are you so interested?”

She blushed.

“You are just impossible to be in one room with. I want to know the secret of… how do you resist the… attraction?”

The man fixed her with his lucid gaze and said with a slight smile:

“I don’t resist… I enjoy it.”

Unable to hold the intensity of his stare, the girl turned her head to look at the dancing people, as if distracted, and gulped. Then she turned back to face Sebastian and asked:

“How…?”

He cast a long glance at her, then unhurriedly answered:

“I think you know how, Sienna. You just enjoy the feeling you are having right now, then you go somewhere else and enjoy other… impressions… And when you feel an urge, you just go to whoever is available,” he uttered hating himself for these words but, on the other hand, feeling for some reason compelled to be truthful with her.

It seemed that the girl’s glow dimmed. She lowered her eyes and tried to collect her thoughts, then cleared her throat and murmured:

“Ah, that’s… a practical approach…”

Jones winced. He did not want this night to turn sour, not after he had a taste of how her svelte body could feel in his hands, how sweet her company could be...

She turned to face him, and Sebastian frowned, looking into her beautiful perturbed eyes. He removed a strand of hair from her forehead and murmured, still holding onto her cheek:

“It’s easy to take no notice of others when you are around…”

She frowned, looked away, and shook her head, her face reflecting skepticism.

“This is sweet, but I don’t buy it. With all gorgeous coeds surrounding you on a daily basis, I’m just one of the crowd. This doesn’t make sense. You could wake up every morning with a different girl in your bed.”

Sebastian laughed, amused. Her straightforwardness was like a scalpel, matching his own. He decided to continue to play it straight.

“Yes, it’s true. I could. And I did it in the past. It led to scandals, squabbles, and dramas. But worst of all was that I woke up one morning and felt that I was deteriorating. As a person. I didn’t like what I was becoming. And then I saw this amazing student with a wholesome character and a light in her eyes… And I just couldn’t look the other way again…”

Sienna looked at him doubtfully. The man before her did not seem to play games, at least consciously. She so wished to believe what he was saying… but she was realistic enough. The truth had to go both ways. She had to think about it; so, to buy some time, she finger-combed her hair, lowered her eyes, and sighed:

“I don’t know what to think anymore… this situation is highly confusing for me…”

Sebastian calmly nodded.

“True. It’s uncharted waters for me as well. There is no script for how to handle what has been going on… I only know that I’m intoxicated…”

The girl swallowed with difficulty and blushed. He was a seasoned player, and she was wary that she could not see through all his tricks. So, she sighed and carefully studied his face, trying to abstract from the feelings these handsome features evoked in her.

The pause stretched on. The most obvious development would be to allow him to kiss her, but she didn’t want to make it too easy for him, even if she was dying of desire.

“Sebastian, I think we should call it a night,” she said it with much the same expression as he had told her to get out of his car on that ‘not-a-date’.

He smiled wisely, casting her an appraising glance, laid back on the couch, finished his drink, and took out his phone.

“I’ll call us a cab…”

The girl nodded.

“Thanks.”

The cab was there in five minutes, and they both climbed into the back seat.

“First, the Bartoli manor,” ordered Jones and laid back on the seat.

His proximity was even more trying now that there was this unresolved tension between them, and Sienna silently prayed for the driver to drive faster.

However, she said quite sincerely:

“Thank you for the evening. It was fun, and I enjoyed it very much.”

The man smiled, looking at her.

“Yes. Me too. You had a great idea inviting me there.”

Sienna wracked her brains frantically and smiled sweetly.

“Oh, my friends and I used to go there a lot…”

Sebastian arched his brow.

“Your... Bartoli friends?”

Unperturbed, the girl nodded.

“Them too. But you know how these things go, there are so many places to explore that one particular bar cannot stay favorite for long…”

Pensively, the man put his arm around the girl’s shoulders and whispered in her ear, warming her cheek with his breath:

“I am desperately holding myself from kissing you or trying to seduce you. I do not know how much longer I will be able to hang on. Now, the idea of dancing with you terrifies me, but come Monday, and I will be praying for the dance time to come quicker. So, tell me, my student, what should I do? Is it possible to cancel this madness and live on as if nothing happened? Occasionally meet your gaze at my lectures and observe you at the dig site?”

Sienna frowned and shook her head, looking out the window.

“Are you trying to shed all responsibility for your actions and your feelings? Do you really want a 21-year-old student to decide for you? Suck it up.”

Sebastian laughed, took her hand, and kissed it.

“You are adorable, Sienna. Keep it up.”

The girl cast him a suspicious glance.

“Was it a test of some kind?”

He responded, never taking his arm off her shoulders:

“Just a stream of consciousness, dear… I wouldn’t be able to refuse this sweet torture, I enjoy your company too much for that…”

He kissed her on the wrist, where the pulse is. His lips lingered there…

Sienna felt her entire body yearning for continuation, her crotch avidly demanding attention. As if on its own accord, her palm unclasped and gently touched the man’s cheek. He raised his head and looked at her with such tenderness, that her heart melted on the spot. The man took to kiss and caress her palm, progressively sliding to her fingers, kissing them individually. Sienna almost died when she felt his lips kissing each of her fingertips. But he let go of her hand, squeezed her shoulders with his arm, made a sharp inhale, and said:

“We’re almost there. Have a nice weekend, Sienna.”

She began fumbling in her bag looking for her wallet, but he stopped her.

“Who do you think I’d be, taking a nanny’s hard-earned cash? Good night and sleep tight.”

The cab stopped, and the girl could not resist the temptation to hug the man.

“Thanks!” she chirped, kissed him on the cheek, and took off, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.

She ran to her room and locked inside. No vampires, no small-talking, no sleepless night!

She quickly undressed and dove into her bed. But when she reached for the lamp to put it out, she looked at her hand. It still remembered the man’s soft lips on each of its fingertips… Her heart bloomed at the memory. He spoke of seduction. How could he seduce her if she was already under his spell? Another memory, of his whispering in her ear, cradling her in his arm, came unbidden, then his stare and the word ‘intoxicated’… wasn’t this seduction? Other memories followed, flashing, making her hot, blushing, tormenting her…

“I hate you, stop it!” she mumbled, pressing her hands to her head. The memory of the kiss came in vivid detail, followed by the dance at the Hoot’s Hooves, his hands on her hips, his breath on her neck, his torso clinging to her back… Sienna squeezed her eyes shut, gulping for air, her body involuntarily arching, her back yearning to feel him... The first dance, when he was so worried for her… The first class of Myths and Legends when they made fun of him until they saw him. His piercing stare that day as if he was a hunter that had spotted his mark…

Unable to contain herself, the girl began caressing her body and letting herself fantasize…

This weekend, Lorie benefited of Sienna’s misfortune, and the two girls had all the fun they could get at the Bartolis’ expense. Late in the afternoon of Sunday, Peter finally relieved the nanny of their prodigy child and left her in the park to enjoy the warmth of the late sun by the lake swarmed by ducks.

Sienna sighed in relief, settled on a bench, and took out her phone to check the time. She still had a couple of hours left before sunset.

Almost as a prank, she typed: “ _Sebastian?_ ” and sent it without any expectation of a response.

But in a dozen seconds, she received:

“ _Yes, Sienna?_ ”

She gladly smiled. While she was musing on what to type next, another message came:

“ _You know you can talk to me anytime about anything_.”

The girl inhaled the pleasant pine scent and squinted at the sun. The weather was gorgeously balmy.

She took a pause to think it over and to enjoy her surroundings, then she typed:

“ _So you told me. Can I?_ ”

In another dozen seconds, a phone call rang. She picked it up with slight trepidation.

Sebastian’s voice, full of concern, sounded a little distorted on the line by the traffic noise:

“ _Hey, Sienna. Is everything all right?_ ”

She smiled. All her anxiety instantly evaporated upon hearing him, as if by magic.

“Well, you shouldn’t be so worried, I’m all right, thanks.”

“ _Do you want me to come to your place?_ ”

She blushed and bit her lip. This was something she didn’t even dare to desire.

“Um, well, I’m at St Florent park right now…”

“ _Ah, it’s on my way, about 15 minutes. Where can I find you?_ ”

A little dazed by the speed of his reaction, she murmured, trying to stifle a senseless happy grin:

“By the ducks…”

“ _Ah, the pond. All right, I’ll be there_.”

He hung up, and Sienna stared at her phone. What was that? Was he really going to come over? She sighed nervously. This was almost too good to be true.

Meanwhile, she took out the rest of the snack for ducks that they had bought with Lorie and began throwing bits of it to the birds.

15 minutes later, when the snack was gone and ducks dissipated, she was still alone. She tried to negotiate with herself to rid of the swelling disappointment when she noticed a tall figure in a dark-grey tee and light khaki cargo pants striding toward her at a brisk pace. She met his gaze and smiled radiantly. The man smiled back, the tension instantly evaporating from his look. He came over and took a seat next to her on the bench.

“Hey. Fed all the ducks of the county?” he asked lightly, observing the birds.

Sienna’s lips stretched into a content smile.

“Oh, now they are all fed up with all the snacks they got this afternoon. Lorie had this wild idea that she could hunt them this way. Ducks got fed, and we got wet.” She laughed.

Sebastian looked at her probingly and smiled. He read her state of mind and relaxed, leaned back on the bench, and observed the surroundings.

“Been here for long?” he asked nonchalantly, spreading his arms wide on the back of the bench.

Sienna sighed and in a very casual manner leaned against him, snugly cradling under his arm.

“Oh, you know, for about three hours that seemed like an eternity. Luckily, my dear charge got bored soon enough…”

Pleasantly surprised by her maneuver, Sebastian smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, arranging himself tighter against her.

“So, you’re having a hard time with the girl?” he asked, probably trying to pacify his rational mind.

Sienna nodded, not too concerned and explained:

“Well, I don’t have any problems with kids, I like them and they like me. It’s just that Lorie is… damaged, and I cannot seem to find a way to help her… She seems totally normal one instant and then she flips and everything goes wrong the next…”

She sighed and trustingly propped her forehead against his unshaven chin.

He lightly kissed her on the forehead and asked in a soft voice:

“How does it make you feel?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Frustrated, angry. But is there anything I can do at all?”

She raised her eyes to look the man in the face. His face was looming inches away from hers. Sienna sighed and whispered:

“Can we postpone the psychoanalysis for a bit?”

Stirred by her proximity, Sebastian squeezed her shoulder and replied barely audibly, fixating her gaze:

“Whatever you want…”

The next moment, Sienna put her palm on his cheek and began kissing him on the lips. He moaned and clasped her tightly in his embrace. Their mutual elation made them feverishly cling to each other, their kiss awakening their hunger and longing. When the girl felt his tongue sliding into her mouth, she could not help but groan avidly, clutching at the man’s neck. What started as tender nibbling threatened to grow into something barely decent.

The girl broke away from the kiss but kept her face lingering close to the man’s.

“Sebastian, oh, Sebastian…” she whispered, trying to regain her breath.

“Sienna…” he continued on kissing her face, in the vain hopes of cooling down a bit. “Say my name again…”

“Sebastian…” she leaned back a few inches to look at him and to stop him from kissing her face. Both their gazes were dazed as if they were in a trance state, which was not far from the truth.

They ran their fingers across each other’s faces, like blind people, feeling the features and the textures, committing to memory all colors of the sun on each other’s faces, all tiny hairs of peach-bloom highlighted by the evening light, all lashes and brows from their dark roots to the translucent tips, all tiny cracks in the soft flesh of lips, all pores, all irregularities in the irises, and drowned in each other’s pulsating pupils.

“Sienna…” the man whispered, caressing the oval of her face. “Sienna…” he repeated, lightly kissing her cheek, then the other, then her forehead, eyelids, temple, then he sighed and let go of her face. They remained cuddled against each other, exchanging caresses and light kisses until the night fell on the town.

A phone call interrupted their bliss. It was Nicolas.

“ _Sienna, are you all right? It’s nightfall, time to get back home. Do you want me to come escort you_?”

The girl sighed.

“Thanks, Nicolas, I’m fine. I’ll get back on my own…”

She almost heard him frown.

“ _You surely remember our agreement that you are not supposed to wander in town on your own after dark?_ ”

Sienna cast a glance at Jones and replied:

“I am not alone and I am safe. I will get back soon, don’t worry, Nicolas.”

Not entirely convinced, Nicolas, however, was wise enough not to pry any further and grumbled:

“ _Call me if anything changes, I’ll take you home_.”

The girl nodded, as if he could see it, and replied:

“Sure. Bye, Nicolas.”

She hung up and put her phone away. Sebastian sighed and offered:

“Let me drive you home. This town is relatively safe at any time of day but better that your guardian doesn’t worry.”

Sienna nodded.

“I will be grateful to you.”

At the gate, Sebastian pulled over and stopped his car. He seemed calm, but as soon as Sienna hugged him, his return embrace betrayed his reluctance to let her go.

He cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes.

“Listen… Tomorrow, I will not be able to be as… affectionate with you, but not because I don’t want to…”

The girl merrily nodded.

“I know, Professor Jones. Tomorrow is a regular Monday. I’ll make sure you never look involved in anything damnable. Our private affairs are to remain private.”

He sighed and smiled ironically.

“Provided I don’t do anything stupid. You are fully authorized to call me to order.”

The girl laughed.

“Oh, you put too much trust in my reasoning faculties, doctor Jones. And, believe me, the students are very observant. They can feel such things a mile away like piranhas can smell a drop of blood diluted a gazillion gallons of water in the river!”

Sebastian laughed and kissed her on the forehead.

“Then we are screwed…” He lightly touched her chin and kissed her lips.

The girl moaned. She felt it. There was no barrier for going further with caresses and more… They both were ready to go all the way…

“Sebastian, stop it right now! Please!”

He bit his lip and withdrew, furiously fighting his desire. He could not fathom what was stopping her, and it made his frustration even more maddening.

“As you wish,” he uttered hoarsely.

Sienna stroked his neck and touched his cheek with her forehead.

“I need to go now. Please let me go…”

He sighed and gently stroked her back.

“I’m not holding you up…”

The girl sighed too, playfully bit him on the chin and giggled:

“But you do.”

Jones groaned and leaned back on his seat, putting his hands on the wheel.

“Go already, Sienna, this is becoming painful.”

The girl collected her will and opened the door.

“Thank you for the evening,” she said softly and climbed out of the car.

Sebastian watched her swiftly dashing to the gate, then rolled his head back onto the headrest and momentarily closed his eyes. Inside him, there was the unmistakable heady cocktail of wandering fireworks, but he enjoyed it. It felt like riding a huge wave that threatened to engulf him at any moment, but the sheer thrill of riding it stirred him so pleasantly that he would never want to willingly reject it.

He switched on the radio, and instantly heard a cover version “… _the way you make me feel_ …”

“How apropos!” he laughed ironically and turned the ignition key.

The sunlight woke Sienna a few minutes before the alarm, and she felt someone’s quiet presence beside her in bed.

Opening her eyes, she saw Drogo silently contemplating her, his head on her pillow.

Sienna stirred and stretched, musing on how to react. Seeing that her window was open, she smiled.

“At least you did not break in through the door!” she chuckled, rolling in bed and stretching delightedly.

“Good morning to you too, little thing!” he retorted grumpily and turned to lay on his back. “The way you are shunning me tells me something’s been going on lately…”

The girl caressed his cheek and climbed above him to get up from the bed.

The blond vampire caught her, but she giggled:

“Do you want me to pee right on you?”

He made a wry face and let her go. Sienna jumped off him and went to the bathroom. He heard her purl, flush, then splatter water and brush her teeth.

In a while, she said, coming out of the bathroom:

“FYI, I’ve been shunning the whole lot of you, not only your Majesty in particular. I needed a timeout.”

Drogo caught her and pulled toward himself into the bed.

“And now that you’ve got your timeout…” he inquisitively looked at her.

She grinned, stroked his chest, and looked at it, surprised.

“Is this the shirt that I shot on the first training day?”

Drogo laughed.

“Moreover, it’s the same chest you’ve ridden with bullets.”

The blood from the shirt was washed away, but all the holes remained there. Sienna felt them with her fingertips, still trying to make sense.

“Why would you keep it?”

Drogo laughed.

“Why not? Now it’s breezy and fashionable.”

The girl sighed.

“I hope you’re not going to show up on campus dressed like this?”

He curved his brow.

“Or what?”

She shrugged her shoulders and caressed his chest again.

“I don’t know… There may be casualties…”

“Hmmmm…” Drogo brushed away a strand of hair from her face and murmured, “I wouldn’t mind one casualty…”

Sienna smiled, straddled him, and then lay on top of him.

“You have ten minutes to persuade me…” she murmured, stroking him.

Sarah watched as her friend strolled out of Drogo’s flashy sportscar, her chaperone cheerfully grabbed her by the waist, and they both approached the young witch.

Sienna grinned happily and hugged her friend.

“Hey girl! Long time! Ready to nail those Myths and Legends?”

Sarah nodded, warily eyeing Drogo, who stood there radiating happy mood.

“What’s he grinning at?” Sarah asked in a tiny whisper, but Drogo heard her all the same.

“Because my morning started way better than yours, Osborne!” he retorted, grinning and stroking lasciviously Sienna’s torso.

Sarah rolled her eyes, then nodded to someone behind Sienna’s back.

Sienna turned to see who it was and shuddered as she saw professor Jones strolling toward the main building, his face closed, almost grim. Did he hear anything? How could he at this distance? But Drogo’s gesture language did not leave much to the imagination. The girl sighed. She never intended to hide anything from her teacher, but it surely looked ugly. She shook her head not to fall into a dismal mood and joined her friends streaming for classes.

The professor was right on time for his class. Sienna was carefully but discreetly watching his face, trying to read him. But the man did not seem any different from his usual likeable self. He smiled warmly to his audience and announced:

“Good morning, gents. Hope you had a nice weekend. Today we’ll be having a flash test, please distribute copies, here…” he gave stacks of papers to the first-row students. “As you will see, there will be three parts to this test: the general anthropology, the myths, and the applied excavations. I’m pretty confident you’ve all become knowledgeable by now in all these domains. You have time until the end of the class. My new assistant, Mr. Joffrey Stokes will help me watch over you and will collect your works if need be.”

A young man, whom freshmen had never seen before, stood up and waved at them. He had milky-white freckled skin of a true redhead, whitish brows, cobalt-blue eyes, and a full head of copper curls. He was almost as tall as the professor but had a visible penchant toward chunkiness. However, his smile was pleasant, and his bearing confident.

“He is a fourth-year, as far as I know,” whispered Sarah, scanning the guy. “His father is a highly respectable pathologist; he is invited everywhere where any new mummy is found…”

Sienna frowned.

“I never knew that… ah… Dr. Jones was looking for an assistant…”

Sarah shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, dancing with the man apparently does not give you any information benefits…”

Sienna nodded.

“Looks like it…”

***

The week proved to be hectic, and with all her occupations, Sienna barely had time to grant attention to the Myths and Legends professor, Drogo having been shadowing her closely all over campus and watching over her like a hawk, so when the Friday dance class began, she was perplexed, not seeing her partner at the dance hall. Slightly worried, she texted him:

“ _Hi. Will you be at the dance class_?”

In a couple of minutes, a call from the unknown number came. Worried even more, Sienna picked it up.

“ _Hi, this is Joffrey Stokes, Dr. Jones’ assistant. The professor is busy at the moment, he asked me to call you and say that he would be unable to attend your dance class today_.”

She pressed her hand to her mouth, a lump in her throat, her heart pounding with the speed of a machine gun.

“Did he say… did he say whether it was temporary or does he… intend to cancel?” she managed to ask the assistant, her voice treacherously faltering.

“ _Er… sorry, miss Richards, he didn’t specify_ …”

She was frantically searching for the right words. Then she made a long exhale and clearly articulated:

“Then please tell him that I am grateful for all the time he could spare me. I know that he is a busy man and I highly value his generous attention. Thank you, Mr. Stokes, for conveying his message to me.”

This was one of the hardest messages she ever had to say, but she realized early on that no amount of bargaining would help her in such a situation. If she would not value herself, then who would?

Feeling drastic, she nevertheless made an effort to pay attention to the moves and to all the instructions, and soon music had its healing effect on her.

Very fortunately, her dance mates were gathering after the class to head to the Motorcat bar, and Sienna eagerly joined them. She called on Sarah and offered her to tag along, but the latter just mumbled some unintelligible excuse and asked for a rain check.

Corrie, a second-year cute girl with purple hair and a load of piercing, hugged Sienna and proudly pointed her in the direction of the stage.

“Look, these are my chums!” she screamed in her ear, trying to get through all the noise the band was making.

Sienna grinned.

“They are pretty loud! But they’ve got the beat!”

The next hours passed in a haze of dancing, drinking, and senseless merrymaking. Sienna was socializing with a few fellow students when suddenly Corrie snatched her drink from under her nose.

“Hey, what’s wrong?!” Sienna, already tipsy, was not happy with her friend’s action.

Corrie squeezed her wrist and whispered in her ear:

“This moron just slipped you something…”

Sienna looked at her friend, her intoxication instantly evaporating.

“Then let’s go!” she grabbed her friend’s wrist and made to leave, but the culprit was not ready to let her go just yet. He firmly took her by the elbow and snickered unpleasantly.

“We haven’t finished our conversation, it’s rude to walk out on someone in the middle of a sentence!”

Sienna turned to him, drawing on the memory of her shooting Drogo square in the chest, and looked at the guy with such sarcasm and such resolve that his demeanor began wavering.

“Do you really want to end this night in a police precinct?” she asked with such confidence that the guy let go of her elbow and tried (unsuccessfully) to appear nonchalant.

“Hey, we’re all friends here…!” a friend of his began arguing in his stead, but the girls were already free to go and they used this opportunity.

Safely out in the street, Corrie exclaimed:

“Wow! Now I definitely know whom to invite for a safe pub crawling! He nearly crapped his pants, the shithead!”

Sienna laughed.

“Oh, and I owe you for spotting the spike in my drink! Or we wouldn’t be talking right now!”

Corrie grinned, very pleased with herself.

“We make the perfect team, girl!”

They cheerfully clapped a high five and, giggling, trotted to an idling taxi.

Once inside, they happily discussed their adventure, still high on adrenaline, and then parted in high spirits.

Nicolas put away his book and looked sternly at the girl, who tried to quietly creep past the living room.

“Sienna! There you are! I already sent Peter and Drogo looking for you! Have you gone completely mad?! Have you seen the hour?!”

The girl stood still and crossed her arms at her chest.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking! You may call your brothers back.”

Instantly, Nicolas sensed that there was something wrong with her mood. He switched tactics and asked her softly:

“What’s wrong, Sienna? Are you upset?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders and headed for the stairs.

“Just a crappy day, with my bad karma hitting me in the face…”

Nicolas swiftly darted, stood in front of her, and took her by the shoulders.

“You can tell me everything, Sienna, you know that!”

She cast him a tired glance and tried to shrug off his hands as he had taught her, but after an unsuccessful attempt just said:

“Maybe in the morning. I want to sleep now.”

The eldest brother sighed, took her into his arms, and transported her to her bedroom.

“Do you need any help?” he asked, watching her take off her clothes with a doubtful expression in his face.

She just shook her head and crawled under the sheets.

“Good night, Nicolas,” she murmured and closed her eyes.

***

Sebastian was lying in bed, staring into the darkness. His body was ringing from all the exercise he had subjected it to. The Stokes guy had dutifully relayed him Sienna’s message, and now it was playing over and over in his head like a damaged vinyl disk. Grateful for all the time he could spare… Grateful for all the time he could spare…

Damn.

He sat up in bed. Was he a teen to act like a coward? They just needed to talk and clarify things, that all.

He sighed and vigorously rubbed his face with his hands. With a reached decision, the calm came over him much more willingly, and he went back to bed peacefully.

***

The morning was nice, and Sienna was in the shower after her morning exercise when she thought she heard her phone ringing.

Guessing that it would be Sarah, she ignored the call, judging that she would be able to call her friend back later.

After the shower, she went to have breakfast, paid attention to Lorie, and took her phone only on her way to the shopping mall early in the afternoon.

But when she wanted to redial Sarah, she took a glance at the missed calls and went numb.

Dr. Jones? What the…

She couldn’t fathom the reason why he would call her.

As if their thoughts were synchronized, her Viber suddenly bleeped. She read:

“ _Sorry for disturbing you. Can I call you?_ ”

As if entranced, Sienna stared at the screen. Re-reading the message, she tried to understand how she was feeling about it.

At last, she dialed his number.

“ _Yes,_ _Sienna_?” he picked up in a few rings. His voice had a hint of tension, but the man seemed to possess all his faculties.

His student said warily, finding a bench at the mall:

“You called me this morning, Dr. Jones?”

“ _Ah, yes. I missed our dance class on Friday and wanted to make it up by inviting you out. Sorry I was out of reach_ …”

She felt dumb. So, had she been imagining things? Was that just a busy week and nothing else?

But it still felt wrong somehow…

“Er… Sure. What did you have in mind?”

“ _Do you have any preferences_?”

Almost without thinking, she suggested:

“Hoot’s Hooves, maybe? Tonight?”

“ _It’s a deal_ ,” he sounded eager to agree with her. “ _7 p.m. or_ …?”

She nodded.

“7’s fine. See you then…”

She wondered why she was in a hurry to finish the conversation.

After she put her phone away, she felt a slight dread. They needed to talk. And this talk could end up badly if she was to tell the truth. It felt so horrible to kill such a thrilling relationship just by voicing the facts about her life…

The Hoot’s Hooves was crammed like any bar on a Saturday night, and if not for the professor’s imposing stature, the girl would have trouble spotting him.

But he waved at her, a vague smile on his lips, and she plodded toward his table through a sea of people.

“Hey,” she smiled awkwardly and squeezed herself into the place he kept for her, busing herself with making herself comfortable and using this time not to look at him.

“What will you drink?” he asked, sounding his normal self while trying to get a waiter’s attention.

Remembering the previous night with a shudder, Sienna grinned in self-irony:

“Tonight, just a Coke…”

Sebastian nodded, having cast her an appraising glance, and ordered a Coke and a root beer.

He skillfully put her at ease with some nonchalant small talk, and in about ten minutes Sienna was giggling to his jokes, their mutual attraction bridging the gaps.

However, there came a time when Sebastian finally asked her in a light voice:

“By the way, Sienna, I meant to ask you for quite some time now… I’ve seen you several times with Drogo. Knowing him, I suggested at first that he was just fooling around as usual. But you seem to be quite close with him… I just assumed that you two had a thing…”

Sienna raised her eyes on him. This was it. The moment she dreaded all along. At first, she could not say a word, then she forced herself to say with a leveled voice:

“Yes, we have a thing…”

This was a devastating blow that took some time to register with him. Sebastian’s arms fell to his sides, and Sienna, seeing the expression on his face, broke into tears.

Making a superhuman effort, she said through her weeping:

“It’s not like I was leading you on, it’s more like I was leading _him_ on…”

Sebastian contracted his fists a few times, then finished his drink, carefully put an empty glass on the table, mumbling: “Students!”

The cocktail of emotions he was feeling made him want to let out the longest streak of expletives ever in the existence of humankind or to puke his guts out. He could do neither. So, he just took a long breath, put a twenty on the table, pressed it with the empty glass, rose from his seat, took the crying girl by the shoulders and led her out of the bar. Now, he was just customarily dealing with one thing at a time, and his priority was to calm the girl, leaving everything else to be processed later.

Outside, he found a quiet spot far from the smoking and chatting bar customers, turned the girl to face him, and looked into her face.

“Sienna. Listen to me. Look at me… good. Listen. None of this is your fault. This is life, such things happen. I, for one, upset a lot of women, but, as sad as this fact may be, I don’t go crying over each one of them. Tomorrow morning everything will look brighter than it does now. Just don’t think of burning of shame, I know your lot, always ready to combust. I’m not judging you. Not for this, not for anything. I…” he bit his lip as if he caught himself in time not to blurt anything he would regret later and instead of adding more words he just rubbed her arms.

Then he cleared his throat and asked her in a whisper:

“Look at me, Sienna.”

Sienna was indeed dying of shame, but still, she gingerly looked at the man.

He smiled cheeringly at her.

“That’s just a counter-strike for having so much fun earlier this month. I don’t know how about you, but I had one hell of a fun time with you.”

The girl smiled through her tears.

“Isn’t this a contradiction of terms?”

“Ah, so you’ve noticed!”

He hugged her tightly with one arm and looked around.

“So, what do you reckon, will a stroll through the nighttime town do you any good?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know. Standing here would definitely be useless.”

Sebastian laughed.

“Aw, Sienna is returning to the land of the living!”

The girl sniffled and, still averting her eyes, said:

“Thank you for… all this. For trying to cheer me up. I’m sorry for being such a…”

“Girl? Yeah, lots of guys are terrified of girls’ tears, but I’m not one of them. I’m used to it.”

She bit her lip.

“Am I so typical?... Of course, I am!”

Sebastian laughed and directed them toward a street giving to a square.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. A student finding enough leverage to make me go to a dance class, now that’s a first!”

The girl sighed.

“That’s not my merit, I just asked Nicolas to jot a few lines…”

Sebastian shook his head and laughed out loud.

“What a silly girl! You don’t even recognize a full front compliment! Do you think I would accept to go there and invest so much time and effort into dances if I wasn’t interested enough in you?”

He stopped in the deserted street and turned the girl to face him.

Now she gathered enough courage to look at him. The man’s eyes were laughing and kind. Looking her in the eyes, he murmured: “I am so stupid…”

And he bent to kiss her.

His lips were gentle, and the kiss felt like a tender symphony running similar to a current through their limbs. This time, his kiss was more assured, unbridled, it spoke of his long-restrained desire, pain, and pleasure. His body, by now acquainted with hers through the dance, was pressing to her in an almost urgent manner, freely expressing his craving and inflaming her. He was savoring her like a flower, caressing her lovingly and drinking her passion.

But he finally interrupted them and made an effort to collect himself.

“I’m such a fool,” he repeated, touching her forehead with his forehead and stroking her shoulders.

He looked at her inquiringly, then tentatively asked:

“Are you ready for another bout of tears?”

Sienna frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

Sebastian hesitated, then finally said, calmly looking her in the eyes:

“I cannot be your teacher anymore.”

She stared at him, waiting for an explanation, afraid that she would burst into tears again.

He continued:

“On Monday, I will file a staff report to the dean asking for transfer. He will be unable to do anything until the end of the semester, so you will have to be graded by someone else. Most likely it will be my colleague Brian, you have nothing to fear from him. He is just, and you have enough brains to get the best grades there are…”

Sienna interrupted him.

“Wait! Stop! It sounds like you already thought it through and made up your mind!”

Sebastian sighed, exasperating.

“It is best if the dean learns it from me, and not through some vile gossip. I cannot teach you, Sienna.”

“But…” she tried to think of something but nothing came to mind. “Don’t do this! Please! I… I will ask Drogo to cover for me…”

The man winced and shook his head.

“Oh, that’s a nice one. Only minutes ago, you were crying your heart out for leading him on! So now suddenly his feelings are not important anymore? And what would this lead to? Stolen kisses all around the campus until someone finally catches us?... I’m sorry, but, either way, I cannot continue like this. Regardless of whether you decide to stay with Drogo or try something out with me.”

Shaken, Sienna reached a point in her misery when she suddenly felt numb and completely devoid of fear. She had to come clear with him, even if it destroyed everything.

And so, she blurted out:

“Currently, I live with three vampires. And by “living” I mean we sometimes sleep in the same bed. We all have feelings for each other. Heck, I even love their little sister! The degree of mutual trust and sincerity between us is simply unparalleled. Nicolas consoled me and gave me advice when I was upset about you, Peter is so attentive that my own dad pales in comparison and Drogo… well… if not for him, I do not know how I would be able to survive the rest of the sightseeing night… So, it’s not about a choice between you and him. You either accept us all, or you don’t.”

Shell-shocked, Sebastian stood speechless for some time, unable to gather his thoughts. Only when Sienna comfortingly stroked his chest, did he breathe out: “Wow!”

He scratched his head. It did not help. He shook his head vigorously to the same effect. Then he made the oddest thing: he took Sienna by the hand and went straight ahead through the sleeping town.

He walked and walked in silence, and already reached the last block before the Bartoli mansion when he began laughing.

He released the girl, still laughing, and laughed for another good minute before he could recover his breath. Then he looked at her and uttered in a raucous voice:

“I’m sorry, it’s something hysterical. And… I cannot accept this right now… Damn, I thought you kissing with Drogo was bad enough… Wow. I really don’t know what to do anymore. The best option would probably be to find a whore or to engage in a bar brawl, but I don’t think that either choice is available right now... Damn…”

He leaned on a nearby streetlight, suddenly feeling physically sick. Sienna, holding back her tears, gently hugged him, letting his face rest on her shoulder. She felt him shiver and began stroking his hair. This seemed to soothe him a bit. She did not dare to say anything for the fear of ruining the remnants of his self-control that kept him standing.

At last, he asked:

“Are you planning on becoming a vampire?”

She looked at him in surprise and exclaimed:

“Hell, no! Of course not!”

Sebastian sighed deeply, rubbed his face, and straightened up. He seemed to finally get a grip on himself, but he still couldn’t look at the girl.

“All right. Let’s go get you home.”

His voice sounded subdued, the man looked drawn and clammed up. When they arrived at the gate, he simply nodded to the girl, made sure that she bolted the gate behind her, and walked away, leaving Sienna devastated.

A wild animal suddenly yowled somewhere in the night, and she shivered. It felt like she ruined it for good.

***

After a sleepless night, Sienna decided to stay in bed. She felt mortified and wanted to avoid her employers at all costs. And since Sunday was her day-off, she was free to dispose of it as she saw fit, even if it meant doing nothing.

She longingly looked at her phone, hoping without hope for a miracle, and finally pressed her face into the pillow and wept.

***

On Sunday morning, he was awoken to a doorbell ringing.

Sebastian loudly exhaled and decided to ignore the bell. Then he grabbed his robe and went downstairs.

There was a vaguely familiar pretty dark-haired young woman on his porch.

When he opened the door, she exclaimed a bright “Hi!” in a pealing voice and displayed a wide smile.

The professor’s return “Hi” was rather neutral, but it did not dissuade the early morning visitor. She chirped:

“I was in the neighborhood and I thought that probably the note I left you fell off, so I decided to come here and say ‘Hi’ to you personally and maybe invite you to a nice early lunch?”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you,” his voice sounded calm and pleasant. “I’m sorry but I had other plans for lunch.”

“Then a dinner? Even better! We could repeat… something…”

“Ah, yes, that… Thank you for that… night. It was… great.”

The woman languidly moaned and her throaty laugh suddenly made Sebastian uncomfortable.

“Oh, you were so naughty! And you seemed to enjoy my company a great deal as well… So, I thought that maybe it is a good idea to continue where we’d left off?”

There was a pause suggesting that he had to reply something, so he began, wracking his brains as to the exact circumstances of their previous meeting:  
“I’d love to… er… Clara…”

“It’s Linda.”

“Yes, Linda, right. Sorry. That night I was a bit upset, and maybe my state led to that… performance. I don’t think that it will be the same as… then.”

The woman sighed.

“Oh well, you cannot enter the same river twice as they say!”

She turned to leave when Sebastian asked her:

“Do you want some coffee? Or rather tea, because I stopped drinking coffee…”


	2. Chapter 2

On Monday, as soon as Sienna set foot on the campus grounds, she was summoned to the dean’s office, much to the satisfaction of Samantha’s clique.

With her heart in her mouth, Sienna knocked at the dean’s door.

She heard an invitation to enter and stepped into the administrator’s office.

The dean, a balding man in his late fifties, his demeanor was calm and unhurried. He stopped reading something on his monitor and set his eyes over his glasses on Sienna. His expression seemed peaceful and mundane.

He asked:

“Sienna Richards?”

She nodded.

“I am to inform you that from now on and to the end of this academic year, all your works will be graded by professor Brian Gilbert. Do you have any questions?”

The girl hesitated.

“And what about Professor Jones?”

The dean sighed tiredly and waved his hand dismissively.

“He’ll be fine. You’re not the first and not the last student in his career. You may go, Miss Richards.”

And he resumed his reading.

Still incredulous, Sienna asked:

“That’s all?”

The dean looked at her and waved his hand again.

“Yes! That’s all! Go get some gold medals! Wish you luck with that dancing contest of yours!”

Sienna’s jaw dropped and eyes popped out, but the dean continued ignoring her.

So, she just stepped outside and was instantly accosted by Sarah and a few other acquaintances.

They all wanted to know what that visit was about.

Still dumbstruck, Sienna gabbled out:

“He wished me luck with the dancing contest…”

Sarah’s eyes bulged when she asked:

“What?!”

When they entered the classroom, professor Jones was checking on slides in his projector. He politely greeted them, as if nothing happened, and soon began his lesson.

Sienna could not believe he would so easily recover from the Armageddon, as she came to call that terrible Saturday night. but the fact remained the same: he was there before her very eyes, teasing and laughing as usual, and his manner of teaching was as engaging as ever.

And after the class, she nearly dropped her belongings when he suddenly called on her in a very casual manner right in front of exiting students:

“Miss Richards, could you send me that video with the ‘spinning eight’? I’ll need to see it again before the next dance class.”

Speechless, she nodded to him and hurried to the exit.

Sarah, having observed the whole scene, was beyond curious:

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, sweetie. What’s happening?”

Sienna blinked.

“I’d be damned if I knew…”

On an impulse, she turned and went back into the auditorium.

“Professor, I have a question!”

He turned to her and calmly shrugged his shoulders.

“Ask away, Miss Richards.”

The students streaming toward the exit slowed down, casting curious glances and elbowing each other.

Sienna calmed down her breath and said in an even voice:

“I was summoned to the dean’s office this morning, and the dean assigned professor Brian Gilbert as my examiner. I suppose it was you who offered this change, so I’d like to know the reason.”

Jones crossed his arms on his chest and sized her up.

“What’s gotten into you this morning, Miss Richards? I thought you’d remember. I already told you that I could not be your teacher. We have an important contest to prepare for, and I cannot afford to jeopardize your grades by being impartial. Don’t forget to send me that video. Have a nice day!”

And he resumed collecting his stuff.

Sienna remembered to nod and, completely entranced, roamed out of the room.

Sarah was there to pester her with questions again:

“What’s this all about?!”

Sienna blinked and murmured:

“Looks like he found a way out…”

***

At the locker room of the dance hall, Sienna was so nervous that she had trouble unbuttoning her shirt. But as her friends came in chatting, the commonality of their chat calmed the girl down.

She greeted them with the usual kisses and even participated in their discussion on the newest trends of the season, and then she collected her wits and stepped into the hall.

Sebastian was standing next to their instructor and showing her his cell phone, most probably discussing the video.

They were deep in an animated conversation when their instructor, Nancy, spotted Sienna and waved for her to come closer.

“Hey, Sienna! I think what you two want to do is extraordinary! And daring! But if you succeed, you’ll get the gold for sure!”

Sienna blinked and looked at Sebastian. His gaze was steady, open, and calm. And it was absolutely impossible to read him.

He coolly nodded to her and turned again to the instructor.

“So, how do you want us to proceed?”

Nancy waved toward the others.

“You warm up, as usual, after that, you two will go to the podium. No one will interfere with your practice there, I will easily keep an eye on you, and you will not get in our way.”

“Again!” Sebastian was utterly focused on the performance and pushed them both to the limits so much that Nancy had to intervene.

“Sebastian, give the girl a break, you are both exhausted. Take a towel, she keeps slipping on your sweat. Give yourself five minutes!”

The man nodded, obeying, and folded himself in two, his torso hanging limp on his hips. Then he gave Sienna a water bottle and went to inspect the talcum box. Nancy followed him and commented:

“Yes, this might be a good idea to get a better grip!”

He rubbed his hands in talcum and returned to Sienna, casting her a probing glance:

“Any regrets?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Plenty!”

“Ready to give up?”

She shook her head.

“Dream it!”

But even after a break, she kept doing her part worse and worse, and Nancy intervened again.

“All right, that’s all for today. You are totally exhausted, and that’s not the right way to go. You can come to my other lessons and practice there in the back, just don’t exhaust yourself to death!”

Sienna’s hands were shaking again, but this time from enormous weariness. She sniffled and tried to button up her shirt again, but her fingers just wouldn’t obey her.

One of her friends, the purple-haired Corrie, came to her rescue.

“Let me do it!” she started buttoning the shirt, grinning and shaking her headful of purple hair in disbelief. “I never suspected you were that crazy, I tell ya! To go out with Drogo is crazy enough, but try to perform this?! You must be completely wackadoo! Mind you, you’ve chosen the right partner, if anyone can pull it off, it’s Jones, he has the horsepower of a monster truck and he moves like Carlos Acosta. But you, my dear, you’re no swan material! We’ve gathered here for contemporary dance, sweetie, for fun, not some damn Olympics!... There you go! I hope you have someone at home to run you a hot bath!”

When she exited the locker room, she saw Sebastian standing in the vestibule in his well-tailored black coat with the upturned collar and reading something on his smartphone. Seeing her appear on the doorstep, he raised his head and tranquilly looked at her.

“Ready to go?”

As tired as she was, Sienna asked nevertheless:

“Go where?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Home, of course. Or you wanted to go alone on your rubber legs?”

She sighed.

“I’ll probably take a cab this once…”

Sebastian shook his head.

“No need, you’ll have to walk only as far as the campus gate: Nicolas will pick you up.”

Sienna stopped in her tracks and stared at him.

Jones showed his phone to her.

“Since you said that you held no secrets from the Bartolis, I figured I’d better tell him of your heroic dance class.”

Between the wonders of this day and the mortifying exercise, Sienna found herself unable to register surprise anymore, so she just let out a “huh,” and shuffled to the exit. The most terrifying thing was Sebastian’s calm. It was as if he remained amicable, even playful to some extent and polite, but completely effaced himself from the picture. No more intimacy, no feelings. Total shutout...

Nicolas was standing, frowning, in front of his car, but when he saw his charge accompanied by the tall handsome man, he instantly made an effort to smile.

The two men shook hands and exchanged appraising glances to the visible satisfaction of both parties.

“I would like to invite you to our manor for a drink, Dr. Jones,” said Nicolas somewhat formally. “We have a choice of excellent ports and sherries, and I will be delighted to offer you an entertaining conversation regarding your historical interest.”

Sebastian bowed to the vampire with a slight smile and replied:

“I would gladly take your offer, Mr. Bartoli, but, alas, I already have plans for tonight.”

Nicolas decorously bowed in return and said:

“Any other day of your choice then, Dr. Jones.”

Sebastian’s gaze slid to Sienna.

He started to bend toward her, and for an instant, she thought that he was bending to kiss her, but he missed her head a few inches and she saw that he was just opening the back door of Nicolas’s car for her.

“Goodnight, Miss Richards. Rest well.”

***

A couple of days later in the canteen, Sarah came running toward Sienna and stifling a laugh.

“Imagine this, I just overheard someone saying: ‘Turns out professor Jones is just Richards’ dance partner at the studio, that’s why they seem close! That Samantha’s imagination blows everything out of proportion, as always!’ People finally started to get the real state of things!”

Sienna smiled wearily and nodded unenthusiastically.

“Oh, good. That Youtube video of our dance class finally got its audience. Maybe it will get Samantha out of my hair for a while… Speaking of the professor, what’s your status in that area?”

Sarah sighed.

“I dunno… He looks like a shell of himself. He passed me twice in the corridor without even looking my way like he was elsewhere… And speaking of elsewhere, these days, you are much in the same condition. What’s happening, Sienna? I’m not blind, you know!”

Sienna sighed and rubbed her face.

“I’m exhausted, dear. I’m having so much physical training that I’m afraid of collapsing any day but I so want us to get elected for the annual mayor’s Christmas ball!”

Sarah laughed.

“But you _must_ be the best there is for this ball! My dance teacher, Helen, says she saw you dancing in a pub and she is positive that you two could make real money for your dances! At first, I was upset that I missed your performance, but since you asked me to give you some space, I was just proud of you in the end…”

Sienna smiled and hugged her friend.

“Ah, Sarah dear, you are so awesome! Thank you for understanding! But so that you know, there are a few other very strong tandems in the class, and I am not that sure that we will be the first choice…”

Sarah squeezed her friend and enthusiastically exclaimed:

“I’m sure you will win! There are talks that you prepare for a contest. After winning it, the ball will be just a piece of cake!”

Sienna took out her phone.

“I need to remind him that the Friday class will take place at the concert hall,” and she sent Jones a message without any hope of receiving anything in return.

She sighed. She realized, of course, that she needed time to come to terms with whatever decision he had made on her account, but his open and charming yet reserved behavior unsettled her. If he didn’t want her in his life anymore, why would he carry on with the dance classes? If he was so deeply hurt as she had seen him be, why would he engage in this acrobatic dance training? Why tell the dean if breaking up would suffice to regain the academic status quo? What’s been going through his head?

Remembering her friend’s special powers, she cast Sarah a discreet glance, trying to decide whether to talk to her about her doubts but decided against it. It could be too much for Sarah after all the trials their friendship went through.

That evening, after Sienna played with Lorie, bathed her, braided her hair, took her to bed, and read her a story, there was a moment when the girl realized how much her life suddenly got complicated.

And significantly changed.

Aside from classes, she found herself training so much as if her life depended on it. She trained with Nicolas, she trained at the shooting range, and now at excruciating dance classes. It seemed that Sebastian was bent on squeezing all juices out of her.

His whip-like “Again!” started haunting her at nights, but, in some kinky way, she was happy to hear it, for there was no other real conversation between them. The intensity of their training was so massive that it left her no strength whatsoever, but she hurried to each next class with the impatient fever of a crackhead about to get her next dose.

Sienna sighed, went to her room, took a shower, changed into a silk robe, and went to knock at Nicolas’s door.

He opened it and let her in without asking any questions.

She dropped the robe to the floor and went straight to his bed.

Nicolas let out a half-sigh, half-moan. Sienna turned to him and saw that he was right behind her.

Silently, she took off all his clothes and pushed him on the bed.

He fell, and she climbed on top of him, sliding her hot body against his cool skin.

The vampire was looking at her with shiny eyes, his mouth slightly open.

Sienna started caressing his torso, her open lips tracing contours on his skin almost without touching it, her hot breath sending sweet shivers through his tingling body.

This sweet torture continued on and on until Nicolas started letting out soft moans, his hands trying to catch the moving girl.

They adopted a more comfortable position on the bed, Nicolas laid his head on the pillows and let the girl put her head on his naked chest.

She started gently stroking his pectorals, and Nicolas was languorously caressing her cheek, her shoulder, and her tender nipple. Then he pulled her head toward his mouth and started gently kissing her face. Now was his turn to trace feather-light contours on her body with the tips of his fingers, which forced the girl to breathe out tender moans and undulate under his touch.

Barely audibly, he whispered:

“Do you want me to make you believe I was him and make love to you?”

Sienna shook her head and stretched her neck to find his lips.

“I want you to be you…”

***

Brian Gilbert, a heavyset professor of history in his late forties, was sitting in the backyard of Sebastian’s house with a beer in his hand and observing his colleague twirl a log about his torso and juggle it as if it were a weightless sliver.

Brian took a sip from his can and sighed:

“Tell you what, buddy, this looks beyond awesome. But to what end are you doing it? To impress a cute student? Really?”

Jones put down the log, exhaled a few times to even out his breath, and brightly grinned to his colleague.

“Will you believe me if I tell you that I’m doing it just because I’m interested in whether I can do it, and because I like it? I like the focus and the movement, the needed dexterity and balance. This exercise fascinates me. The student… well, it’s not about her anymore.”

Brian’s eyes popped out.

“You mean to say you haven’t pounded her yet???!!! Yeah, of course, that’s why you are playing your muscles! Man, you should get laid ASAP!”

Sebastian chuckled and took a sip from a water bottle.

“Don’t worry about me, Brian. You’d better check out your growing belly!”

He tossed his friend a baseball and laughed, watching the man ungainly try to catch the ball and instead spill his beer.

***

Sebastian raised his head to look at the visitor to his office. Sienna stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“I came to tell you, sir, that our next dance class will also be held at the concert hall,” she did her best to make her voice sound even. “Please don’t forget!”

The professor rose from his chair and nonchalantly strolled to the door. The window of his office that gave to the corridor had its vertical louvers semi-open, and the only blind spot was next to the door, where his student was standing now.

He frowned when he saw her drawn face, but she just brushed his hand aside.

“Are you doing all right?” he asked with a genuine concern in his voice.

The girl just smirked.

“Never better. Don’t be late!”

The professor shrugged his shoulders, accepting her answer, and leaned his fist against the door-frame.

“Have I ever been late?”

Trying to cover her unwilling trepidation at his proximity, Sienna explained, barely feeling her lips:

“Both the selection and the contest are nearing, and I don’t want you to mix up these events.”

He let out a soft mirthless laugh.

“I believe I will need a reminder,” he whispered bitterly in her ear and lightly brushed her cheek with his cheek.

Sienna, now completely incapable of rational behavior, grabbed him by the neck and neared her face to his so that their breaths mingled.

“Why are you doing this? Wouldn’t it be so much simpler to just break up with me?” she murmured breathlessly, staring at his lips. “Are you trying to punish me?”

Sebastian gently extracted himself from her grasp and turned to walk away from the girl, painfully aware that he was torturing himself.

The girl took the door handle resignedly, but an odd thought occurred to her. She stopped and asked her professor in a low voice:

“What do you know about the spread of vampirism?”

Sebastian froze momentarily in place, turned to her, frowning, and exclaimed:

“Wow, Miss Richards, you surely know how to switch gears!... Uh, on the subject, I’m not exactly an expert. Why don’t you ask your… ah… family…?”

“I’m asking you.”

They stared intensely at each other, on the verge of doing something rash, anger, and bitterness boiling over in their chests. Then Jones took hold of his impulses and asked in a flat voice:

“And what triggered your curiosity?”

“Tears of Blood. An Inca ruler.”

Jones let a pale smile enliven his taut face.

“Ah, so you decided to re-read Fernando Montesinos?” then he frowned again. “But what’s the connection?”

Sienna hesitated.

“I saw Lorie crying with bloody tears,” she finally lied.

The professor’s eyes widened in unwilling surprise.

“That’s fascinating! If you learn something else about this, please tell me.”

Sienna nodded and opened the door.

“You’ll be the first to know,” she said and closed the door behind her.

“Indeed, what am I doing?” he whispered under his breath after finding himself alone in his office again. Her scent was lingering near the door, and he involuntarily inhaled it like a drug addict, fantasizing of her body in his arms.

Tonight, the dance class was completely different.

Bewildered, Sebastian observed his dance partner, when she was the one exclaiming: “Again!” and pushing him to swirl her again and again. Nancy, the instructor, looked surprised; all the rest were just amazed at the miracle that was happening before their eyes.

At the end of the class, all students and their instructor gathered in a semi-circle before the podium and began applauding.

Nancy exclaimed, laughing in delight:

“You did it! Wow! You did it even better than in the video! This is amazing! All the gold medals of this town will be yours!”

Both Sebastian and Sienna seemed pleased.

Jones turned to the girl and asked her in his old open manner as if forgetting about all self-imposed restrictions:

“Have you felt it by the end? We completely synchronized! It was so… amazing…”

Sienna, her eyes shining, beamed.

“It felt magical! I do not even feel tired!”

The man laughed and patted her on the back.

“All the same, you should rest now!”

She smirked.

“Sure.”

He was waiting for her again at the exit, and while Sienna was strolling toward him, she was contemplating his tall broad-shouldered figure, dark against the light, charcoal-grey pants, the upturned collar of the coat and an unruly mane of lustrous black hair.

The girl smiled at him.

“I was thinking, you must have seen lots of ethnic dances in your travels. Maybe some of it can be usable for a fresh dance?”

Sebastian burst in sincere laughter, making her remember his old cheerful and easy-going self.

“What a maniac! At least wait until we show this hellish ‘eight’ to the contest jury!”

Sienna lightheartedly dismissed him with a gesture.

“Bah! I’m not worried about the contest, I’ve already got what I wanted. Time to think of something new!”

The professor shook his head in disbelief.

“To think that it was I who triggered all this by inviting you to a dance! Could I have known that I was opening Pandora’s box?!”

“But isn’t it fun?!” laughed Sienna, making a few very stylish dance moves, happy to be able to freely talk with him.

Sebastian laughed and nodded, showing her his bandaged wrists:

“Yep. Totally! Total fun and joy!”

Sienna grinned and asked, still prancing before him:

“What’s with the music? Will need something cool for such cool moves!”

Jones sighed.

“I bet you’ve already thought it through.”

The girl joyfully nodded.

“It’s either _Dancing in the Moonlight_ or _Pendant que les Champs Brûlent_.”

The man shook his head.

“May I listen to that?”

Sienna readily rummaged through her shortlist and played first the _Moonlight_ , then the _Burning Fields_.

Sebastian attentively listened to both tracks, absentmindedly nodding to familiar students passing them on their way home from classes.

At last, he sighed and said:

“They are both cool, but the moods are different. I would suggest to try out both to decide definitely.”

Sienna clapped her hands enthusiastically.

“Where and when?”

Sebastian hesitated, then murmured, taking out his phone from his pocket:

“This address, tomorrow, say, at two p.m.”

Sienna checked her phone and read the address.

“What’s there?”

Sebastian reluctantly replied:

“A house. I’ll be entertaining my friends in the evening, so you may come a bit earlier to try both tracks…”

The girl cast such a look at the address on her screen as if it could jump out at her.

“So, it’s…”

Jones interrupted her.

“Doesn’t matter. We don’t have that much time left until the competition. If you are ready to sacrifice half Saturday, then you are welcome to come.”

He nodded to her and started to leave when he turned and asked the girl:

“Do you prefer red or white wine?”

Sienna stared at him, uncomprehending at first, then mumbled:

“Red.”

Jones gave her a reserved smile, nodded, and left.

The girl shook her head and sighed. His behavior was so irritating! Open, amiable, easy-going, and completely devoid of anything that would be considered out of line…! Except, maybe, that small brushing at his office, but it looked more like an accident than the real thing…

The familiar “Vroom” told her that Drogo was beginning to lose patience.

The girl looked around. Peter was nowhere to be seen. Not that she expected him to be. After the training incident he started avoiding her, and, frankly, she was all the happier for his absence, because when his red eyes appeared unbidden in her dreams, she woke up, startled, and panting.

Drogo met her in a foul mood, but instead of saying something nasty, as had been his habit, just kissed her possessively and demonstratively for the whole campus to see.

Sienna hugged him by the neck and whispered in his ear:

“Stop acting like a dick, Drogo. I do care about you.”

She did not need to look at his face to feel him dumbstruck. His strong arms squeezed her tightly.

But she did not let him linger on it, kissed him on the lips, and buckled up, given that the vampire’s driving style was far from safe.

***

On Saturday morning, Sienna woke up too early. She tried to stay in bed a bit longer, but her head started buzzing with enormous to-do lists that propelled her out of bed.

She made the sun salutation series, cleaned her room, washed, found two presentable sets of clothes, gathered her sports bag, decided against wearing the miniver wrap previously given to her by Nicolas, considering it too sumptuous for a simple home party, but she could not resist using Peter’s gift of insanely expensive perfume and tucked Lorie’s funny little mascot inside her jacket pocket.

The wine-red biker jacket was now almost a piece of her, she could not part with it. And each time when she put it on, she remembered how Drogo put it on her shoulders in that store and said simply that it fitted her, and then how he stood behind her in the changing room and observed her every move with an ironic grin on his lips. He was saying something stupid, as usual, but at that moment she felt his intensity and his longing for the first time.

She stood in the middle of the room staring at the jacket and trying not to cry. She realized how much Sebastian meant for her, she could see a life full of excitement and adventure at his side, she could even imagine him as her husband, but, for some reason, she was unable to let go just yet of these three misfits…

Sienna wiped her nose, put on the less flashy outfit, hoisted the sports bag on her shoulder, and went downstairs.

Seeing Peter, who tried to escape her gaze, she hugged and kissed him to his utmost bewilderment, enveloping him in a delicate cloud of the mind-blowing perfume, peeked into Lorie’s room and found the little devilish angel sleeping.

Then she found Nicolas reading in the dining room, hugged him, and said that she wanted to dance with all three of them at the Christmas ball, kissed him on the cheek and was ready to leave for the first item on her list – the Ayurvedic salon when Nicolas called her.

“Just a second, Sienna. I’ve got something for you.”

He rose and went to the massive marble fireplace. There he took something from the mantelpiece and returned with it to the girl.

“Here is something you can wear everywhere,” he smiled timidly.

It was a very thin chain with a shiny round quartz pendant that lodged exactly under Sienna’s interclavicular fossa, enhancing the frail beauty of her neck and shoulders.

“I’ve noticed that you do not wear the wrap, and you are probably right, it is too showy for everyday use, but I’ve seen other ladies wearing pendants similar to this one and thought that it would look very well on you … And this…” he procured from his pocket a small pistol in a leather holster with a clip, “is something for your peace of mind. The range is short, but these bullets blossom inside, so one shot to the head is enough to stop just about anyone I can think of…”

Sienna sighed and hugged the eldest brother.

“Aw, my sweet Nicolas! Thank you for worrying about me! I promise I will carry it everywhere.”

She kissed him, having playfully bitten his lip, and went outside.

There she made a long inhale of cool air and went to the gate.

She triple-checked the address and finally built up enough courage to push the doorbell.

After interminably long thirty seconds, the brown wooden door opened. Sebastian was wearing grey sweatpants and a simple white tank top that left his lean muscled arms on full display.

The man grinned at her cheerfully and beckoned her to come in. He was in his ‘sociable teacher’ mode, no awkwardness to be afraid of.

“Hi there. I’ve been listening to those two tracks for half a morning…” he ushered her into the living room that looked more like a small museum than anything else. “The way I see it, _Dancing in the Moonlight_ is a bit childish, but also cheerier, ‘dancier’, which may please the public. The _Burning Fields_ is more meditative and lets our movements stand out. It may be perceived as a trance of sorts. But it’s up to you, of course.”

Sienna nodded. Her professor’s assessment was very similar to her own.

“All right, then I suggest we use _Pendant que les Champs Brûlent_ for the competition, and the _Moonlight_ for the Christmas ball.”

Sebastian made a face and shrugged his shoulders.

“Sounds fine by me. Do you want anything to drink or need anything else?”

The girl shook her head.

“Thanks, I’m all set. I just need a place to change…”

Sebastian nodded.

“Sure, use any room on the first floor.”

Slightly self-conscious, Sienna took the stairs and peered into the first room. It turned out to be a library. She decided that there was no point in looking further and put her bag on a chair.

The girl thought about her first impression of their meeting and it seemed to her that the professor’s cheer felt somewhat strained. It was, however, too early to make any conclusion, and she decided to observe him a bit longer, secretly wanting him to be awkward, even if just to show to her that he cared…

Did she regret it went out that way? Yes. But she never regretted saying the truth, for she wanted to be truthful with him. And in spite of everything, she wanted him to be with her, even if it was impossible…

She closed the door to the library and a tad nervously took off her clothes along with jewelry. Then she put on her usual yoga pants and a cropped top that she liked mostly because it gave her teacher opportunities to touch her bare waist and stomach. She smiled a private smile. There she was using womanly wiles when only a bit earlier she derisively pursed her lips at other students, who tried out their tricks on their hot professor.

She shook her head:

“I’m being such a hypocrite!”

Then she put on toeless socks with sticky soles and opened the door.

The first floor was deserted, and she had a little naughty idea to go check on Dr. Jones’ bedroom.

Biting her lower lip, Sienna breezed down the corridor and finally found the bedroom. The door to it was ajar, and the girl could see the disheveled bed and other furniture. Everything was very basic but made in pleasant natural colors. She crept inside, looking around, then delicately touched the corner of a drawer, and peeked at the title of the book lying on the nightstand. Neither the title nor the author was familiar to her, and she decided not to pry any further. For the last time, she marveled at a large intricate reproduction of a fresco depicting Tezcatlipoca, the most famous Smoking Mirror, and turned to leave.

Her curiosity more or less satisfied, Sienna descended the stairs and found Sebastian stretching.

“I usually do the majority of my exercise in the backyard, but it’s rather fresh today, so, we could do it in the tatami room or right here…” he explained, making a wide gesture around the room.

Sienna slightly frowned, as she saw that she could not even count in one glance all the artifacts in the room.

“The backyard sounds better, I like fresh air,” she admitted.

“Then put this on,” he tossed her his pullover, and Sienna caught it, smiling. “There go my wiles!” she thought with a merry self-irony, putting it on.

“Shall we do it now?”

The girl nodded.

“Absolutely.”

Sebastian took his phone and led the girl to the backyard.

There was a well-maintained pool and an excellent exercise platform covered in wooden boards.

The host gave the girl time to warm up and switched on the first track.

The light and cheerful melody of _Dancing in the Moonlight_ made them instantly sway to it, smiling and making funny gestures. Then came the _Burning Fields_ , and the dancers’ movements slowed, they began discussing the timing for the movements and nodding to the rhythm, both secretly happy to be communicating again.

The choir made Sienna wriggle melodramatically, swaying her hips and pretending to shout. Sebastian cast her a weird look that she could not immediately decipher, and she stopped doing it.

“All right, next time we do it,” he announced, waiting for the music to change.

At the start of the _Moonlight_ , they began moving in unison, repeating the sequence of well-trained gestures and enjoying each of them. Then came the dreaded “figure eight”, and the baggy pullover made Sebastian lose his grip on her body. He caught her in time but stopped the sequence.

“We’ll need to do something with our clothes,” he said, frowning.

Sienna smiled and removed the pullover.

“We’ll do that,” she said soothingly. “And now, let’s do it again.”

After they became satisfied with all the kinks and twists associated with both melodies, they just danced delightedly a couple of times to the music, enjoying their movements and play.

Despite Sebastian’s impressive physical power, his figure remained well-proportioned, and he moved with magical ease as if he weighed nothing. Sienna’s gracefulness due to all the exercise and built-up strength reached a new peak; when she danced it was like if she lived through music, reacting to the slightest nuance in notes, a live flame in love with the sound. Unnoticeably to them both, the dance as occupation became a full-fledged form of lovemaking for them; they were so entranced with each other’s movements that everything else ceased to exist.

Sebastian realized it when he suddenly woke up from his trance, watching Sienna in the eyes. He felt his palms on her waist and his hips tightly pressed against her hips. Her thigh on his hip, she was tightly clutching at his neck and drinking his breath.

The man smiled at her, tossed her torso back, then lifted her and said simply:

“Let’s go inside.”

Swirling in a dance, they barged into the house, and Sebastian carried her into the living room.

Without saying anything, he was holding her tightly in his arms and drinking in her breath as if it were ambrosia. God how he had been missing her! He felt his bitterness dissolving in her proximity, replaced by an overpowering rush of limerence and desire. She was gripping his neck in such a fierce embrace that it took Sebastian all his willpower to the last ounce not to start ravishing her right on the dinner table.

“I cannot breathe without you!” he whispered, panting. Their ragged breaths mingled, and they finally dared to touch each other’s lips, but when they did, they could not tear apart. Their tongues entwining, their clothes started raining to the floor, and when their naked bodies finally touched, they exhaled long-restrained sighs of painful pleasure.

Sienna whimpered: “I’m burning! I want you!” while pressing herself to the man and biting him on the chest. She was so aroused that she was afraid that the man would be unable to match her, but it turned out that her scorching heat made a perfect pair to his wild passion.

In the process, precious artifacts got knocked off to the floor, a bookshelf lost half of its shelves, and most of the books, fabrics were ripped, decorative pebbles scattered and even the sofa got damaged in the mayhem.

Completely unhinged, Sienna fixed her crazy gaze on him with passionate urgency.

“Give it to me! I want you everywhere! Fuck me like an animal!”

She dug her fingers into Sebastian’s lustrous hair, her mouth wide open, deep guttural groans escaping her on their own accord.

And the man acted as if he indeed lost track of his human side.

The climax came as spectacularly as the rest of the act, it lasted so long that all sense of time was lost, and ended on the floor because everything else in the room was ruined.

They lay panting on the floor, staring at the ceiling, and for some time there was just labored breathing.

Then the silence became complete. And in the silence, they heard the beginning of the _Dancing in the Moonlight_ ; Sebastian began nodding to the rhythm and gesturing with his free hand – because Sienna’s head was lying on his arm.

It made them both giggle, and they continued lying on their backs, smiling and twitching their limbs to the music. When it finished, they both laughed and began stretching. Sienna raised her torso to look into his face and smiled at him. The man rolled to his stomach, smiling, and pressed the girl to the floor in the process. He started kissing her again, then, still kissing, carried her to the shower, but there she began provoking him in the most urgent manner, and he plumbed her again under the warm water so wildly that several tiles cracked in the cabin.

Sienna, not being a scratcher under normal circumstances, nevertheless bit him several times, drawing blood, and left an autograph of her nails on his pectorals.

Finally, after their third time, they calmed a bit, washed, went to the first floor to don fresh clothes and returned to the ground floor, all this without exchanging a single word. Then they looked around and began cleaning.


	3. Chapter 3

At 7 p.m., the doorbell rang, and a cheerful young couple showed up in Sebastian’s living room.

He introduced Sienna by giving them her name, introduced them to her, and went to the kitchen to put the gift bottle on the tabletop.

Then other people started arriving, all of them bringing different snacks and drinks. Sebastian removed a casserole from the fridge and put it into the microwave.

In total, eight people came. Some of them helped to set the table, others preferred socializing and studying the artifacts.

The night passed in a very amicable and light manner, no one asked Sienna anything personal, and when the last guest left, Sebastian poured her and himself some red wine and sat next to her on the repaired sofa, looking at her gently and stroking her hair.

“How do you feel?” he asked her tenderly.

Sienna took a sip of her wine and grinned:

“Like I was run over by a truck.”

Sebastian frowned and tossed his head backward, but the girl looked at him and laughed:

“Relax! It was a fantastic truck! If I wasn’t so sore, I would ask you for more!”

The man scoffed, disbelieving, and stroked her temple affectionately.

“Do you need to get to the manor tonight?” he asked reluctantly.

Sienna took out her phone and texted a message to Nicolas telling him that she would be out for her whole time off and said to Sebastian:

“Not anymore.”

Sebastian smiled mildly and a little sadly, and caressed her cheek.

“Won’t they mind that you are staying with another man?”

Sienna’s foxy smile made him laugh.

“Another? God, no…”

She paused, searching for the right words.

“How to put it… they cannot compete with you…”

Uncomprehending, Jones frowned, but she explained a bit awkwardly:

“Yes, they occasionally make me cum, but only you have the right working tool to give me what I want…”

His eyes glinted in sudden realization.

“Ah, the blood flow…!”

The girl nodded. She felt his huge relief and laughed, happy to be able to give him such joy. The man was visibly delighted by the news. He hugged her and covered her face with kisses.

“Thank the Maker…” he murmured, caressing her, still under the bliss of the huge relief. “I’m such an idiot…”

She hesitated, but then summoned up the courage to ask:

“What made you change your mind?”

Sebastian paused, thinking, then explained:

“After you came into my office, I realized I had to make a choice because I could not go on any much longer like this. Your presence troubles me like nothing else does, I’m unable to resist your presence, I’m mesmerized by you, and the thought of you belonging to multiple others… made my blood boil, especially when I saw Drogo kissing you everywhere on the grounds. But each time I talked to you or danced with you I reverted to my obsession with you… So I decided that I’d rather be happy than right. If you are emotionally and otherwise attached to other people, I have no power over it, I just want to have my share of you.”

Sienna hugged him by the neck, sighed in a blissful relief, and buried her nose on his chest.

“I’m so happy I trusted you to make the right decision when I told you about them…”

The man let out a long sad exhale and rubbed her shoulder…

“It just didn’t feel like a blessing…”

The girl kissed him on the clavicle and shook her head.

“No, it didn’t.”

On Sunday morning, they were awoken to the sound of the doorbell.

Sebastian grumbled and tossed in bed, then sighed and stood up.

“Stay put,” he whispered to sleepy Sienna and grabbed his bathrobe.

The doorbell rang again insistently, and the man hurried to the ground floor.

The door opened, and a cheerful female voice chirped:

“Hi! Your phone was off, are you okay?”

Jones’s voice was calm and unhurried:

“Hi. I’m fine, thanks. The battery must’ve died. You shouldn’t have worried.”

“All right, since I’m here, how about a morning coffee?”

There was a pause. Then Sebastian said:

“Linda, I need to talk to you…”

The door closed, and their voices became so muffled that it was impossible to discern words.

Sienna wrapped herself in a sheet and crept toward the staircase in the hopes of overhearing their conversation.

But all she heard was the door closing, and Sebastian calling:

“Come downstairs to the kitchen.”

Sienna hurried downstairs. Through the side window, she managed to catch a glimpse of a very attractive dark-haired young woman looking pensively at the building. Then the woman turned away and left, leaving Sienna a little sad.

“I feel for her,” she thought to herself, remembering the woman’s expression. But she could not think of any way to console her and went to the kitchen slightly perturbed.

Jones waved to a chair and went somewhere to the living room.

“This Linda is very beautiful,” Sienna noted out loud, taking a seat at the table.

Sebastian sighed from the other room.

“Yes.”

Sienna mulled it over, trying to figure how to conduct the conversation.

“Why was she upset?”

The man sighed again and said in a slightly muffled voice while making some rustling noise:

“She wanted more than I could give her.”

Sienna paused and then blurted out:

“Did I take her place?”

The man stopped moving, then poked his head into the doorframe to the kitchen, stared at the girl, and firmly said looking her in the eyes:

“No. Do not even think of doing such a connection. You are taking no one’s place. The place you take up is yours. Always. Do you understand? You have the right to live and to be where you are. Same as everyone else.”

He abandoned what he was doing and went to squat near the sitting girl.

“You cannot make everyone happy, you know.”

She smiled at the man and stroked his unshaven cheek.

“But I can always try.”

“Not by giving up your place in life,” he said standing up and went back to the living room. “Remember that.”

Then he returned to the kitchen holding a big map of the region and spread it out on the table.

Sienna leaned over it with starry eyes.

The man pointed to an area and explained:

“I’ve been told that here, about 25 miles to the west of town, there are some sort of ruins. Locals know about them but they lack the interest to explore the site. The person who told me about them could not even tell what exactly they were. Would you want to go there today?”

Sienna enthusiastically nodded.

“Sure! Lead the way!”

The man chuckled.

“Then I’ll be ready in about 45 minutes, after that I’ll make breakfast and we’ll be good to go…”

The girl looked puzzled.

“Will you be putting on some makeup for 45 minutes or something?”

He laughed and slapped his bicep.

“These puppies do not come by easily and have to be maintained.”

“Oh, then I’ll have time for my yoga!”

Sebastian looked at the girl askance.

“Just do it out of my sight.”

Sienna giggled.

“Or what?”

“Move on, young lady!”

He lightly slapped her buttock and went to the backyard.

Sienna sighed, feeling on cloud nine, and went upstairs.

The airy scrambled-eggs with stir-fried vegetables smelled divine.

Sienna started to wolf it down with relish.

“So, not only you are a Ph.D. and an awesome professional ballet dancer, but you also know how to cook something celestial out of ordinary products, doctor Jones! Please tell me of your flaws or I’ll start feeling inadequate!”

Sebastian laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

“If you travel as much as I do, you should start learning how to cook! It can literally save you from some nasty stomach bug or some such!... As to my flaws… I am impatient sometimes, I want to make love with my student, I hate tomatoes, I want to make love with my student…”

Sienna started giggling while Jones rose from his seat and came over to her, then he thought better of it, turned and grumbled:

“You’d better finish eating first.”

He put a cup of tea and a cup of coffee on the table and studied the map again. Then he took his tea and opened his laptop, typed in something and frowned.

“Granit lining, damn… Can you tell me, miss Richards, what it means?”

Sienna first gobbled down the last of the meal, took the coffee and peeked into his laptop. There was a geological map of the area.

Unhurriedly, she took a sip from her cup then looked at the man, smiled, and said:

“First, Dr. Jones, you said it yourself that I’m not your student anymore; second, it means there is no cultural layer in that region to speak of. But ruins are ruins, and I would check them out all the same.”

Sebastian laughed and patted her on the arm.

“Go get dressed, or your sweet smart mouth will not go anywhere far today.”

Sienna stood next to him, hugged him on the neck, and whispered:

“Stop threatening me, or you might have to execute your threats!”

The man scoffed and tried to grab her, but she quickly darted out of his immediate proximity and zoomed to the first floor.

Sebastian just shook his head, smiling, still engrossed in the study of the map.

He tossed a backpack into the truck, added a few gallons of water, a pickaxe, a hank of rope and other tools, and motioned Sienna to climb in.

“All righty, you’ll be my navigator today. Believe it or not, but GPS does not always work, so the map reading skill could prove useful one day.”

Sienna grinned and saluted him.

“Yesss, sir, roger that, sir!”

Sebastian sighed and turned the key.

They left the pickup parked at the side of the road, took out the equipment, and ventured into the woods.

After about forty minutes of walking, they began encountering chiseled stones. Their placement made Jones raise his brows.

The two explorers entered a clearing, and the man whistled in surprise.

“Do you see what I see?” he asked Sienna. The girl was all eyes too.

“Er… I don’t even know how to interpret what I’m seeing…”

“Indulge me, Sienna.”

She looked at him, surprised that he did not use his mocking “miss Richards”.

She licked her lips and launched into observations:

“A conical depression with regular-shaped stones radially spreading outward… But, Sebastian, this looks like a blast!”

The man frowned.

“A two-centuries-old blast.”

Needless to say, they spent the rest of the day studying the site.

They found a series of collapsed tunnels that led nowhere and the basement of a separate building.

Having documented everything as best they could under the circumstances, the two enthusiasts packed their stuff and hurried back to the car.

Darkness fell too quickly before they could reach the road, but Sebastian, nevertheless, continued confidently strolling ahead.

“Are you sure we are going the right way?” asked him Sienna, shuddering.

The man turned to her and she gasped: his eyes were phosphorescent, like those of wild animals.

He told her calmly in his usual voice:

“Don’t try this on your own, but right now we are all right, just follow me.”

But the girl stood rooted to the spot.

“Who are you?” she uttered, feeling for her small pistol tucked somewhere inside her biker jacket.

Jones sighed.

“I guess due to your history with the Bartolis you’ve grown suspicious of everything that looks like something out of the ordinary…”

Sienna brusquely retorted:

“Don’t give me this shit, I’m not your student.”

Sebastian sighed.

“Why are you trying to have this discussion in the middle of the woods instead of at least in the car? There can be wild beasts roaming here…”

The girl grew tense.

“You are not a vampire, but there is definitely something wrong about you, and I want to know what it is before we get out of here.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Can’t see the logic. Can this wait until the town? Or, what, you’ll shoot me and wait for the dawn next to my corpse?”

“ _How does he know_ _about the firearm_?” thought Sienna with distress, and the man answered as if he had heard her thought.

“Oh c’mon! This is no rocket science! You’ve been smelling of gunpowder as long as I remember you, you’ve bragged to me that you were good with guns, it’s just logical to assume that a person regularly practicing at a shooting range will have some sort of firearm on her! And the way you started rummaging through your pockets when you looked me in the eyes is just a coincidence, right?”

Sienna gulped. He was behaving very naturally. But she knew this trick herself. So, she drew out her pistol and trained it on the man.

He shook his head.

“This is so stupid…”

The girl sighed.

“I know. But I’ve been living with four predators under one roof these past months, and I want to know who I am dealing with.”

Sebastian frowned.

“You cannot always have what you want, Sienna. Right now, I’m going to resume going to the car. If you want to, you may follow me. If you do not trust me, you may stay here in the woods until dawn. As simple as that. But I will not allow you to blackmail me at a gunpoint.”

He turned and left, leaving Sienna no choice but to follow him.

After several minutes in silence, the girl aligned with him and said sincerely:

“Sebastian, I’m sorry I offended you. I don’t know anymore whom to trust in this town, between the vampires, the Descendants, the witches… I… I start to have the impression that I’m the only human here! Please understand, I’m shell-shocked that the man I admire so much and with whom I… made love… could turn out to be… not a man!

Vampires were technically not men as well, but it had never stopped her… Jones sighed. He was still upset.

“Sienna, have I ever given you any reason not to trust me?!”

The girl shook her head but still replied:

“The Bartolis also have been very sweet with me until recently!”

Sebastian turned his luminescent eyes toward the girl.

“You still haven’t told me what’s happened when you came to classes all scratched and bruised.”

Sienna hesitated between her loyalty to the brothers and the need to clear things up with Jones.

“I… trained with them, and… they got carried away, their hunting instincts prevailed…”

Sebastian abruptly stopped, took the girl by the shoulders, and turned her to face him.

“Are you all right?” he asked with a genuine concern in his voice, and Sienna could not resist him anymore, she hid her face on his chest and tightly hugged him.

The man soothingly rubbed her back, but then stepped back and told her in a much gentler voice:

“Let’s get back to the town first, ok?”

The girl did not resist this time, and they soon reached the car.

After ushering the girl inside his house, Sebastian took out his phone and called Nicolas.

The call went through, and Nicolas almost instantly picked up the phone.

“I think we need to talk, Mr. Bartoli,” said Jones without any niceties.

On the other end of the line, Nicolas promptly replied:

“I’ll be at your place in ten minutes, Dr. Jones.”

“You know my address?”

“It’s listed in the Yellow Pages, Dr. Jones. Also, I prefer to know where my charge is situated. I’ll be in a spell.”

Sebastian went inside and found Sienna sitting on the sofa in the living room, looking morose.

The man sighed.

“I’ll make you some tea.”

And went to the kitchen.

Then he returned, holding a steaming cup, and put it on the coffee table with a mended leg.

“I need to talk with your, ah, guardian. So please let me talk first, and do not invite him into my home.”

Sienna stirred.

“Nicolas will be here?”

Jones nodded.

“We’ll do the men’s talk first, then you may do whatever you want. Agreed?”

The girl nodded and took the cup of tea to kill time.

Soon, the doorbell rang.

Sebastian sighed and went to the door.

Nicolas was standing outside, dressed formally, and looking very serious.

Sebastian nodded to him but did not shake his hand and stepped outside onto the porch.

“You’ll excuse me for not inviting you inside,” he said in an even voice.

Nicolas slightly bowed his head.

“Indeed, Dr. Jones.”

Sebastian attentively looked into the vampire’s eyes and said:

“The mental state of your “charge” and my student is unacceptable. She is stressed out to the point of losing her reasoning faculties. If you want her to remain a charming cheerful person that she was when she first came to this town, she shouldn’t be responsible for defending herself in your house, it is your responsibility. If you are unable to provide her peace of mind, then I will do my damnedest to terminate her employment at your house, Mr. Bartoli. I believe it would be best if for the time being, she kept out of your place until you figure out how to ensure her security and restore her trust. Is it clear, Mr. Bartoli?”

Nicolas stood there, thinking. Then he slowly nodded, piercing the man with his intense gaze, and extended his hand.

“I fully agree with your assessment, Dr. Jones, and I accept your condition. Sienna’s belongings will be transmitted to you before dawn,” he suddenly pulled Sebastian’s hand toward him and said barely audibly: “But from my part, I would suggest that you, Dr. Jones, also clarify your issues with Sienna if you want to keep her trust and her… enchantment with you. Also, I would like to remind you of possible social repercussions of your move.”

Sebastian frowned and sternly nodded.

“Duly noted, Mr. Bartoli. Do you want to talk to her?”

Nicolas inclined his head.

“Please.”

Jones nodded and opened the door.

“Sienna, do you want to talk to Nicolas?”

The girl appeared on the doorstep, then came onto the porch and went straight to hug the Bartoli.

Sebastian stood motionless, then murmured:

“I’ll leave you two.”

And went inside.

Sienna looked at Nicolas, and the latter asked her:

“Have you heard our conversation?”

She nodded.

“Mostly.”

“Then I would suggest that you agree to Dr. Jones’s lodging arrangement, until, say, Christmas, that is if you have nothing against him. I hope we will solve our problem by then. What do you say?”

She hesitated.

“And what about Lorie?”

Nicolas lightly smiled.

“Oh, you can still come to visit her, but you are under no obligation whatsoever to spend your nights in our manor. And we are more than willing to suspend your contract for this time.” He paused, then said sadly: “This situation is completely my fault, Sienna. I just hope that you recuperate under Dr. Jones’s watch and that one day you find it possible to forgive us.”

Sienna lowered her head.

“Poor girl! She would be mad at me.”

Nicolas inclined his head.

“I’ll do my best to explain to her…”

Sienna sighed, looked at him, then hugged him again.

“Thanks, Nicolas. If nothing helps, call me and let me speak to her. Now I need to rest. Bye.”

She kissed him on the lips and went inside, bolting the door behind her.

When she entered, Sebastian was sipping tea.

“Do you agree to stay here, or would you prefer to stay with miss Osborne? I could call her first thing in the morning and talk to her parents…”

Sienna tiredly smiled and delightedly looked at the man.

“How come you can resist all the crap people are giving you? Me with my rats in the attic, my employers, my friends, this whole buzzing hive at the campus…”

He shrugged his shoulders completely unimpressed by her enumeration.

“I guess it’s just a force of habit. When you are the one responsible for, say, digs, it makes you also responsible for numb-skulled local workers, who forget to check for methane, or deem it unnecessary to install support constructions so that the tunnel does not collapse. After just one serious accident you are forced to get into their heads to understand how they tick and, eventually, thinking about other people becomes second nature. And when you get stuck underground and the same numb-skulls do their damnedest to dig you out, you stop judging them. That’s field archaeology for you, Miss Richards.”

She stood in the middle of the room, looking at the man with adoration in her eyes.

He sighed.

“Stop looking at me like I’m some icon, Sienna. I have lots of my own crap in my ‘attic’ and in life as well.”

The girl made a step toward him. Asked:

“Would it be bad for you if I stay here? Would you prefer me to stay at Sarah’s?”

Sebastian gestured to the girl to come closer, put her in his lap and looked her in the eyes:

“How about you come to visit me on weekends? We’ll try to collect more information on those ruins…”

Sienna sighed and caressed his chest.

“But maybe I can relocate later? Like, tomorrow? I want to spend this night with you.”

He smiled softly.

“Even with my glowing eyes?”

“I’ll give you credit, Dr. Jones.”

She started kissing him on the mouth, then descended to his throat, nibbled on his ear, and returned to his mouth.

The man gave her full reign of his body, moaning and taking pleasure in everything she did.

After a while, he touched her shoulder and asked:

“Do you want to experience something you never did before?”

Sienna licked her lips and looked him in the eyes.

Sebastian explained:

“We are used to experiencing the so-called “Spike” orgasm, but in Asia, there is a Taoist technique called the “Dale” orgasm. It lasts for hours and does not lead to energy loss, but instead, it fills the couple with it. I think you need this option right now…”

The girl looked at him attentively and asked:

“Did you try it before?”

His gaze was direct and calm.

“Yes.”

The girl smiled and whispered:

“Then lead the way.”


End file.
